Resolution No. 50 - For an Independent Palestinian State that Provides Quality Public Services to its Citizens

The 30th World Congress of Public Services International (PSI),
meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on 30th October to 3rd November 2017


NOTES that
:

  • In addition to the ongoing occupation, the biggest threat to peace in the Middle East today is that Israel and the US administration have declined the Two-State solution, as it appeared in the first meeting between the US President, Donald Trump, and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

  • This US-Israeli trend has emerged after the important resolution that was adopted by the UN Security Council on December 23, 2016, under number 2334, which called for an immediate cessation of all settlement activities and considered that all settlements established after 1967 are not legal. It also reiterated its vision of a Two-State solution, where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders.

  • Despite the UN Security Council resolution, the Israeli government continues its settlement policy at an escalating pace, including in East Jerusalem, to make the occupied Palestinian territories unviable.
    • Gaza is still under blockade and, thus, its people suffer from social distress at various levels, particularly at the health level, where the Israeli government has even prevented Palestinians from crossing the borders to receive medical treatment.

    ALSO NOTES that:

  • PSI has already affirmed in previous decisions its conviction that lasting peace in the Middle East can only be based on justice and self-determination of the Palestinians, and must culminate in a sovereign, independent and viable Palestinian State that lives side by side with
    a secure Israeli State.

  • PSI does not see the applicability of its main slogan “for quality public services” in a country such as Palestine, without the establishment of an independent and democratic Palestinian State. No quality public services are possible without a state capable of taking its own decisions through democratic mechanisms and independently from any foreign power.

Therefore, Congress RESOLVES:

  1. To RAISE the slogan “for a democratic and independent Palestinian State that provides quality public services to its citizens”;

  2. To CALL on the affiliates to work with their governments to make them exercise pressure on Israel to implement the UN Security Council Resolution No 2334, in addition to resolutions 338 and 242, as well as to put pressure to break the blockade over the Gaza Strip;

  3. To IMPLEMENT a specific project for Palestine, under the above-mentioned slogan, that should include a PSI international conference, resulting in an international campaign. The international conference to be held will focus on the following issues:

    a) The occupation and its impact on public services and on the conditions of the Palestinians;
    b) The social-economic policy of the Palestinian Authority, and the development of policies
    leading to quality public services;
    c) Quality public services and their role in establishing democracy;
    d) The domestic and international trade union role in building the democratic and
    independent Palestinian State;
    e) Labour standards and trade union rights in law and practice; and

  4. FURTHER CALLS UPON the leadership of the PSI to establish a mission to Palestine and Israel for the purpose of exploring these issues and to make recommendations for programmes to strengthen public employee trade unionism throughout the region.